During slavery in the US in the 19th century, would slaves be counted as part of a state's population?

by xmachina

Let's say that early 19th century South Carolina had 300000 freemen and 200000 slaves, would that mean that people back then would say that South Carolina had a population of 500000?

word_nerd_mcgoo

The U.S. census counted slaves. For example, in 1800, the census asked for:

  • The number of free white males and females aged, respectively:

under 10 years of age

of 10 years but under 16 years

of 16 years but under 26 years

of 26 years but under 45 years

45 years and upward

  • Number of all other free persons

  • Number of slaves

You can find all of the questions from all previous censuses on the Census Bureau's website, here.